Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni presented Greece’s unique investment opportunities and competitive edge before representatives of KEIDANREN, Japan’s Business Federation, and of Japanese airlines in Tokyo.
Kefalogianni is in Japan for the international fair ‘Tourism EXPO Japan 2024’, in which Greece is the honored country.
According to a Greek Tourism Ministry statement, attending the constructive discussion were KEIDANREN Europe President and head of the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Cooperation Makoto Takashima, as well as the CEOs of Mitsubishi Electric and the ANA and Japan Airlines.
Kefalogianni emphasized in particular investments in hotel infrastructure in recent years, while adding that strong hotel brands and large hotel chains had entered the Greek market, a sign of business confidence in Greece. She also noted that the Tourism Ministry’s service for licensing tourism investments operates as a one-stop shop department, in a flexible and business-friendly manner, the latter being an achievement of the Mitsotakis government.
In addition, the minister underlined the need for a direct air connection between Greece and Japan, while she also described the use of the mAI Greece app for tourist information in several languages that was greeted with particular interest by the Japanese officials.
Earlier, Kefalogianni met with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, an emblematic figure of the Japanese political scene, and briefed her on the annual international conference of Women Political Leaders held in March by the Tourism and Social Cohesion & Family Ministries.
The two officials also discussed the challenge of climate crisis and training old and young citizens in new technologies, while the Japanese governor referred to incentives provided to families to remain on Japan’s smaller islands, and to the use of hydrogen in transport at the Tokyo port as an example of sustainable development.
